Michael Winslow had his future-peering turban on years ago. He knew the comedy boom of the early- to mid-1980s wouldn’t last forever. He knew it was just a matter of time before audiences would get tired of comics who only stood on stage and made wacky observations.
“That’s what I warned everybody about years ago, and they didn’t want to hear what I had to say,” Winslow notes now.
“I tried to tell the other comedians, you cannot be like that Paul Simon movie `One Trick Pony’ and just stand there and tell jokes. You’re going to have to be variety-based.”
Winslow has for about 18 years been a master of making sound effects with just his voice. He’s taken that talent all over the country to colleges and clubs, and he was also able to fashion a movie role out of it, playing cop Lavelle Jones in the “Police Academy” films.
While he was making any noise, from machine gun fire to rock legend Jimi Hendrix’s screeching guitar licks, the other comedians scoffed at his predictions. “They said, `Aw, man, you don’t know what you’re talking about, man.’ So I said fine, guys, go right ahead,” Winslow says.
“Now look what’s happened.”
What happened was comedy hit the wall in the early 1990s, with clubs closing left and right; audiences staying at home to watch performers on cable instead of paying anywhere from $25 to $50 and more when visiting clubs; and standups dropping out of the business because they could no longer make a living at it.
And Winslow keeps using his voice to sustain a career.
The club owners who remain “realize that in order to stay in business, you have to be, a), competitive, and b), variety-based,” says Winslow, who was born in Washington State. “You can’t just sit there and just have comics.”
Winslow’s brand of comedy is now in style, as is other variety-type acts. Variety works because it’s not the same old thing, which people have pretty much gotten tired of. And club owners aren’t fools, which is why it “seems to be” the case that Winslow is now more in demand than ever.
“(Audiences) want to see something different, and that’s where vocal-vision comes in,” says Winslow in describing his sound effects-driven act. “Nowadays, you have to act like you’re off-Broadway,” where Winslow can do anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour of material that features a mix of sound effects, voices, music, theater stuff and improvisation.
Winslow has been interested in making sounds with his mouth ever since he was a kid. “It was just something I liked to do,” he notes.
“Everybody else wanted to play army and shoot each other up with fake guns. I chose noises. When the kids wanted to play something, whenever they want to play army, I said, `OK, fine, let me be the air force.’ “
When he took his vocal-vision to the comedy stage, “I had all the so-called experts telling me not to do this,” Winslow says. “Well, they’re not with us anymore.”
Just as comedy has evolved over the last five years, so has the arena where a comic can be enjoyed. And just as that evolution has taken place, so has Winslow’s focus and place in it. He likens his focus to a reinvention of himself.
“Basically, I’m just doing what all the other stars that people have enjoyed over the years have done,” he says. “They’ve reinvented themselves, and so have I.”
Winslow is taking advantage of all the information innovations that have popped up. He’s moved to Orlando, Fla., and created a production company named after the title of his type of noisy standup comedy act: Vocal-Vision.
“Multimedia pretty much is it, man . . . (and) I’m going to be releasing my own stuff,” explains the man of 10,000 sounds. “Which is basically the vocal-vision comedy. Which are jokes with a three-dimensional soundtrack to them. And nowadays, you just don’t hear it, you get to see it, too.”
Winslow is working on an infomercial to push his first U.S. album (he’s had two that were released in Europe) as well as his act. He’s also going to be putting out a book called “101 Annoying Sound Effects,” which comes with illustrations and a compact disc.
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Winslow is also going to put together an interactive noise game, and will slap sound bites of his stuff on the information superhighway.
“I have no choice, because the competition demands that I keep up with the marketplace,” says Winslow, who was also featured in the Mel Brooks movie “Spaceballs.”
“Besides, nobody can steal the sounds. They can try to steal the jokes, but if they don’t have the sounds it’s not going to work . . . that’s why I designed my comedy this way.”
And just to make sure he reaches the widest possible audience, Winslow doesn’t just hit the road, he hits the world. He just got back from several weeks abroad, going to Australia and other countries. He has found that he’s a big hit overseas.
“I’ve done more work in Europe than here,” Winslow says. “Basically in Europe, people accept you as you are. You don’t have to be necessarily packaged and groomed and stamped and pressed and rolled and spindled and released. Basically they accept it as art. Whatever you do is art.”
And don’t forget that Winslow has a neat little movie career going for himself. He did the sounds of Michael J. Fox’s foot-shuffling dance in “Back to the Future III” and did the voice of the evil Stripe in “Gremlins.” His current project is a movie called “Shooters,” which he says should be out soon.
“For a while there, Hollywood tried to find people to replace me,” Winslow notes. “I would read the breakdowns every day for what characters they were looking for for their pilot season. `Looking for a young Michael Winslow type . . . but not him! But not him!’ “
You can see the real deal this weekend at the Funny Bone in Naperville. Michael Winslow will be performing at 1504 Naper Blvd., in the Tower Crossing Shopping Center. For show times and reservations, call 708-955-0500.
THE STANDUP LINEUP
Marsha Warfield, the salty Chicago talent who moved on to NBC’s “Night Court” and her own talk show, comes back to work in front of the home crowd. She’s scheduled to perform Friday along with A.J. Johnson and Cedric the Entertainer at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, Ind. Call 312-734-7266 or 219-769-6600, or Ticketmaster at 312-559-1212, for ticket details.
A new comedy club has popped up in Palos Heights. Lavery’s Restaurant and Comedy Club will have local act Sonya White along with Monica Carter through Sunday, with “Mr. Big Stuff” Harry Hickstein coming in starting on Wednesday. Lavery’s is at 7216 W. 119th St. in the Tiffany Square Mall; call 708-361-2141.
Looking towards next week, Mark Curry, star of ABC’s popular “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper,” is making a rare comedy club appearance, showing up at All Jokes Aside Sept. 29-Oct. 1. The club is at 1000 S. Wabash Ave.; call 312-922-0577.